Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Managing Director of BIVAC, a member of the BUREAU VERITAS
Group and one of the five destination inspection companies in the country, Mr
Herve Chassagne, has assured importers of the commitment of the company to
facilitate the speedy clearance of their goods from the ports of entry.
Consequently, he has entreated importers to ensure that they
“submit the right documents covering their goods to enable us to do quick
verification to enable them to clear on time”.
Mr Chassagne gave the assurance at a special seminar in Accra to
expose importers, traders and clearing agents to various processes and
operations of the company.
It was also to assure the stakeholders of the commitment of the
company to remove all bottlenecks that cause delays during the clearance of
goods and to forge closer collaboration to ensure a win-win situation.
The seminar comes on the back of complaints by some importers
and clearing agents about the delays at ports when clearing goods, a blame they
place at the doorstep of the DICS.
But Mr Chassange said “it is never the intention of the DIC’s to
delay any importer at the ports because that also goes to affect the image of
the company in charge”.
He said as per their role, BIVAC, for instance is mandated by
the law to ensure that documents presented for verification correspond with the
goods in the containers among other things.
“BIVAC is a customer oriented company which believes that an organisation
depends on its
customers, hence its certification upgrade from ISO 9000 and to
ISO 9001:2008 by British Standards Institutes” he said.
Mr Chaasagne said all BIVAC business units are automatically
covered by this certificate adding that the company has Quality Assurance
Division which coordinates the implementation of quality management system to
meet the satisfaction of its customers.
He said BIVAC has Code of Ethics which directs the conduct of
its employees and ensures “our impartiality and independence and demonstrates our
commitment to client confidentiality”.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Commissioner of the Customs
Division of the Ghana revenue Authority (GRA), Major-General Carl Modey, called
on BIVAC and the other DICs to deliver first class services to the business
community in manner that will “transform our operations to reflect the business
requirements and expectations of the 21st century”.
“I must acknowledge that in spite of the numerous challenges and
complaints, Customs is highly appreciative of the role BIVAC is playing in
building the capacity of our staff and other stakeholders in classification and
valuation”, he said.
He said the success of Customs depended on “our ability to
depart from old habits, discard outmoded knowledge and obsolete experiences and
learn new techniques based on best practice”.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Nii
Ansah-Adjaye, who chaired the function, said the recent revelations in the
scheme presented the country with challenges that require the collective effort
of all players to tackle.
“These include the rampant discrepancies on documents such as
invoices, bill of lading among other things submitted by some importers/agents
including some companies, all with the view to evading or avoiding duties and
other taxes.
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